Kinsey fraud perpetrated on film
Added 1/22/2010
This Hollywood creation was warned about by Dr. Judith Reisman, the former Dept. of Justice researcher who is the leading expert on the damaging influence of Alfred Kinsey in American History. Her book, "Kinsey: Crimes & Consequences" details the real life horrors this man was guilty of, including the fraudulent information he put forth as "science" to deceive the American public and our legal system. Kinsey is directly responsible for the light prison sentences that are given to sexual criminals, rapists, pedophiles, etc., -- none of which is covered in this Liam Neeson production. The studios were so fearful of Dr. Reisman, that when she was invited to watch a pre-screening of this film, they stopped the movie once they found out she was in the audience. Her take on the film is that they presented Kinsey as a quirky professor rather than a monster who was ultimately responsible for the abuse of thousands of innocent children who were molested as part of Kinsey's so-called "scientific study" of sex. Dr. Reisman's detailed testimony can be found in the documentary, "The Kinsey Syndrome" which is also available through Amazon.
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When it comes to love, we are all in the dark
Added 10/20/2009
Liam Neeson and Laura Linney are superb as Alfred Kinsey and Claire McMillen, a scientist and his understanding wife. Though Alfred Kinsey was a brilliant scientist who collected and catalogued thousands of gall wasps, and wasn't too shabby on the piano, either, even the smartest people have blind spots. One of his was that he couldn't accept that his son was more interested in athletics than science, and he was repeating the pattern of his own father, who also tried to force him into a mold that he didn't fit. Mac, his wife, played by Laura Linney, could see this plainly, as well as many other quirks and blind spots, but she loved him just the same. For instance, when he turned his attention from wasps to human sexuality she could see that the reaction of society at large would make things very difficult, but she stood by him nevertheless. Linney is very good at playing the understanding wife, as her performance as Abigail Adams in John Adams adamantly demonstrates.
"Kinsey" paints a portrait of a scientist, and it also places him in an historical context that shows how his groundbreaking work changed things forever. Kinsey thought he was a rational scientist who just wanted to measure and record things, but with a subject like human sexuality he was opening a Pandora's Box that would have a devastating effect on him, his family, and his colleagues on the project; not to mention the country, and the whole world. Such a provocative subject made for a fascinating film.
Along with the excellent performances by the two leads there was ample support from John Lithgow, as Kinsey's father; and Tim Curry, who played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in an ironic twist, as a priggish professor who undercuts the progressive ideas of Kinsey at every opportunity. Oliver Platt plays a more supportive faculty member. Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, and Chris O'Donnell play research assistants who can't help but bring their work home on occasion.
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Alfred Kinsey: Mac, did I ever tell you about the Mbeere?
Clara McMillen: No, not that I recall.
Alfred Kinsey: They're an ancient East African tribe. They believe that trees are imperfect men... eternally bemoaning their imprisonment. The roots that keep them stuck in one place. But I've never seen a discontented tree. Look at this one! The way its roots are gripping the ground. I believe it really loves it.
=====================
Ah, sweet mystery of life. I wonder what Alfred Kinsey would have thought of this film. I'll bet you that he would have liked it, especially the performances of Liam Neeson and Laura Linney.
----------------------
Reporter: Any plans on a Hollywood picture based on the book?
Alfred Kinsey: I can't think of anything more pointless.
================================
Jindabyne (2006) Laura Linney was Claire
The Squid and the Whale (Special Edition) (2005) Laura Linney was Joan Berkman
Beautiful Girls (1996) Timothy Hutton was Willie Conway
Nell (1994) Liam Neeson was Jerome Lovell
Indecent Proposal (1993) Oliver Platt was Jeremy
Scent of a Woman (1992) Chris O'Donnell was Charlie Simms
Postcards from the Edge (1990) Oliver Platt was Neil Bleene
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984) John Lithgow was Lord John Whorfin / Dr. Emilio Lizardo
Footloose (1984) John Lithgow was Reverend Shaw Moore
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Widescreen Edition) (1975) Tim Curry was Dr. Frank-N-Furter - A Scientist
----------------------------
Alfred Kinsey: When it comes to love, we are all in the dark.
===================================
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A Pretty Big Shock
Added 9/23/2009
I originally only saw this movie because I love Liam Neeson, but it turned out to be really great. It was very informational and educational, but at the same time--I know it was heavily biased information, though it still provided a great background for my Psychology class. It was really well done and even though the subject matter was quite...*clears throat*...unconventional, I still give it 5 stars.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Great Seller...really
Added 9/11/2009
Great seller, Shipped and arrived on time as described, doing business was a pleasure and I dont say this just because...I say it because you are a great person to buy from.
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Much better than I expected
Added 7/30/2009
Just for "truth in reviewing," I have to state that Kinsey has always been one of my heroes, just as he was a hero to the final interviewee in the film, who blessed him for saving her life. Even while I was a teenager, Kinsey's "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was on my bookshelf, and had pride of place.
Over the years, details about the man himself have become more public, and it becomes clear that Kinsey was (surprise!) not actually a perfect human being. Well, my own search for one of those still continues. :-)
It should not be surprising to learn that Kinsey was a driven man ("relentless"). He was a workaholic. Before even beginning his research into sex, he collected a MILLION specimens of the gall-wasp, and made his reputation as a biologist. Something else the film pays little attention to: he wrote one of the standard college textbooks on biology, which sold very well for decades and made him a much more independent man.
I'm not sure that the film deals completely with Kinsey's apparent awakening to his own homosexuality. But it certainly does not skate over this interesting fact.
Kinsey's sexual orientation was not his fatal flaw, in my opinion. That flaw may be summed up in one simple sentence: "I can live without sex, but I can't live without love." Kinsey was a man of his times, and so he was a behaviorist. He refused to deal with love, because he couldn't measure it. (And there's a nice question: how indeed can you measure the infinite?) So Kinsey collected samples, and counted. His entire research on one human being was reduced to one Hollerith card (AKA "IBM punch card," something which I believe no longer exists).
But still --- the man was not a devil; he was basically a worker-bee. Who else could have produced his two monumental works on "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female?" Mistitled works, though: they should have been called "Sexual Behavior in the White American Male" and "Sexual Behavior in the White American Female."
All of this complexity is on view in this film, which really surprised me. The film avoids painting Kinsey as a Great Liberator, and it also avoids painting him as a Great Satan. What he was is quite obvious: a man who did objective research into things which had previously been unmentionable in Puritan America.
An excellent movie!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Kinsey fraud perpetrated on film
Added 1/22/2010
This Hollywood creation was warned about by Dr. Judith Reisman, the former Dept. of Justice researcher who is the leading expert on the damaging influence of Alfred Kinsey in American History. Her book, "Kinsey: Crimes & Consequences" details the real life horrors this man was guilty of, including the fraudulent information he put forth as "science" to deceive the American public and our legal system. Kinsey is directly responsible for the light prison sentences that are given to sexual criminals, rapists, pedophiles, etc., -- none of which is covered in this Liam Neeson production. The studios were so fearful of Dr. Reisman, that when she was invited to watch a pre-screening of this film, they stopped the movie once they found out she was in the audience. Her take on the film is that they presented Kinsey as a quirky professor rather than a monster who was ultimately responsible for the abuse of thousands of innocent children who were molested as part of Kinsey's so-called "scientific study" of sex. Dr. Reisman's detailed testimony can be found in the documentary, "The Kinsey Syndrome" which is also available through Amazon.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
When it comes to love, we are all in the dark
Added 10/20/2009
Liam Neeson and Laura Linney are superb as Alfred Kinsey and Claire McMillen, a scientist and his understanding wife. Though Alfred Kinsey was a brilliant scientist who collected and catalogued thousands of gall wasps, and wasn't too shabby on the piano, either, even the smartest people have blind spots. One of his was that he couldn't accept that his son was more interested in athletics than science, and he was repeating the pattern of his own father, who also tried to force him into a mold that he didn't fit. Mac, his wife, played by Laura Linney, could see this plainly, as well as many other quirks and blind spots, but she loved him just the same. For instance, when he turned his attention from wasps to human sexuality she could see that the reaction of society at large would make things very difficult, but she stood by him nevertheless. Linney is very good at playing the understanding wife, as her performance as Abigail Adams in John Adams adamantly demonstrates.
"Kinsey" paints a portrait of a scientist, and it also places him in an historical context that shows how his groundbreaking work changed things forever. Kinsey thought he was a rational scientist who just wanted to measure and record things, but with a subject like human sexuality he was opening a Pandora's Box that would have a devastating effect on him, his family, and his colleagues on the project; not to mention the country, and the whole world. Such a provocative subject made for a fascinating film.
Along with the excellent performances by the two leads there was ample support from John Lithgow, as Kinsey's father; and Tim Curry, who played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in an ironic twist, as a priggish professor who undercuts the progressive ideas of Kinsey at every opportunity. Oliver Platt plays a more supportive faculty member. Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, and Chris O'Donnell play research assistants who can't help but bring their work home on occasion.
----------
Alfred Kinsey: Mac, did I ever tell you about the Mbeere?
Clara McMillen: No, not that I recall.
Alfred Kinsey: They're an ancient East African tribe. They believe that trees are imperfect men... eternally bemoaning their imprisonment. The roots that keep them stuck in one place. But I've never seen a discontented tree. Look at this one! The way its roots are gripping the ground. I believe it really loves it.
=====================
Ah, sweet mystery of life. I wonder what Alfred Kinsey would have thought of this film. I'll bet you that he would have liked it, especially the performances of Liam Neeson and Laura Linney.
----------------------
Reporter: Any plans on a Hollywood picture based on the book?
Alfred Kinsey: I can't think of anything more pointless.
================================
Jindabyne (2006) Laura Linney was Claire
The Squid and the Whale (Special Edition) (2005) Laura Linney was Joan Berkman
Beautiful Girls (1996) Timothy Hutton was Willie Conway
Nell (1994) Liam Neeson was Jerome Lovell
Indecent Proposal (1993) Oliver Platt was Jeremy
Scent of a Woman (1992) Chris O'Donnell was Charlie Simms
Postcards from the Edge (1990) Oliver Platt was Neil Bleene
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984) John Lithgow was Lord John Whorfin / Dr. Emilio Lizardo
Footloose (1984) John Lithgow was Reverend Shaw Moore
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Widescreen Edition) (1975) Tim Curry was Dr. Frank-N-Furter - A Scientist
----------------------------
Alfred Kinsey: When it comes to love, we are all in the dark.
===================================
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
A Pretty Big Shock
Added 9/23/2009
I originally only saw this movie because I love Liam Neeson, but it turned out to be really great. It was very informational and educational, but at the same time--I know it was heavily biased information, though it still provided a great background for my Psychology class. It was really well done and even though the subject matter was quite...*clears throat*...unconventional, I still give it 5 stars.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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